Healthy Sleeping

Supercell

I've suffered all my life trying to sleep.

I've always been a bit hyperactive in my youth causing the slightest disturbance or noise to make me wake up and cease the path into sleepiness.

As sleep is such an important part of being healthy I'm wondering what people here find helps them sleep better.

There's only a few things that make me fall asleep easily for sure:-

1) Get pissed ( I really hate this option..but its an easy one to take)
2) Get knackered from exercise..totally..tired doesnt matter..knackered as in barely able to stand.
3) Read a book thats a bit boring for a while
4) Hand shandy....

Any other light sleepers got suggestions?

Ruu_Old

I need some sort of noise in the background otherwise I'd never fall asleep like a fan going or some light music (waterfall or rain).

Odysseus

Number 4 will always work! Have you tried any form of relaxation techniques? Even something like lavendar oil in a burner or on your pillow can help. May I ask is you mind racing or do you think of stuff that may increase you heart rate when you are trying to sleep. Stuff like working over those things that pi**ed you off that day? I am fuc*er for thinking about stuff that I want to do in the future which is usually difficult stuff. As a general rule listen your body you should be relaxed make some time to wind down. If your teeth are clenced and your fists you will not sleep. Hope this helps.

g'em

Ugh, I feel your pain, I go through bouts of insomnia too. I'm a big fan of valerian root, you can get it in health food shops or chemists - I usually use Natrasleep. It's nowhere near as strong as sleeping tablets, all it seems to do is help you nod off and get a good nights' rest.

crotalus667

g'em wrote:

Ugh, I feel your pain, I go through bouts of insomnia too. .

I hear that

Next time im in the doc's im going to see if I can get some tab's to help , I find some times I get up after a bad night and I know my body just has not recovered :mad: , it's amazing the difference a few extra hours make :eek:

Odysseus

crotalus667 wrote:

I hear that

Next time im in the doc's im going to see if I can get some tab's to help , I find some times I get up after a bad night and I know my body just has not recovered :mad: , it's amazing the difference a few extra hours make :eek:

I'm not being funny but don't go there mate. The likelihood is you will leave with a script for zimovane or worse stilll some form of benzo. I work with the fallout from this every day. Unless you have severe imsomnia stay away from that type of stuff.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Try get some GABA. Its pretty cheap to order online, one spoonful in a glass of water and its sweet dreams.

I find it fantastic for getting off.

liamo

Camomile tea works for me. Makes me sleepy for about 20 minutes. If I go to bed shortly after a cup I can pretty much be guaranteed to be asleep in about 10 mins after going to bed.

It's not immensely pleasant on its own, however you can get camomile tea bags flavoured with spiced apple or vanilla, etc in most supermarkets.

Regards,

Liam

Gavin "shels"

Used to have the same problem myself but not really anymore, read about 10 pags of a book and then jump into bed and listen to a radio with earphones (try listen to a phoneshow, I listen to Adrian Kennedy on FM104 9.30pm - 1am)

g'em

Mairt wrote:

Try get some GABA. Its pretty cheap to order online, one spoonful in a glass of water and its sweet dreams.

ooh, I've heard great things about GABA for sleep actually. ZMA is another option, it's a Zinc MAgnesium complex that you can get in health food shops of on-line and lifters use it to keep testosterone levels primed (not to any huge degree, it's just a natural booster) but enhanced sleep is a side-effect.

@ crotalus, I'd echo what Odysseus said about the sleeping tablets, try and stick to alternative methods if possible

davyjose

I too have suffered terribly from an inability to sleep, all my life. But a few weeks ago, I started cutting out Caffeine (tea, coffee, coke Red Bull, etc) after 2PM. It has COMPLETELY changed how I sleep and I would recommend it to anybody!!!

siochain

As mentioned above Chamomile, valerian tea & ZMA (crazy dreams) all help. You could also try some guided meditations to help the body and mind to unwind. Some good free Podcasts available on Itunes, well worth checking out.

Cheers

pwd

I'm not a great sleeper and have suffered from bad insomnia before.
I agree about valerian and ZMA, and use them both. Valerian especially is effective for helping to drop off.
Wax earplugs also help a great deal if noise is a factor at all. Everything sounds further away so you're less likely to be woken by noise.

I also find a breathing technique to work well: inhale slowly and exhale *more* slowly, pause between exhaling and inhaling and listen to your heartbeat to keep time (4 beats inhalation, 7 beats exhale 4 beats between breaths for example). Usually when I do this I relax pretty quickly and start yawning within a couple of minutes.
Taking very rapid very shallow breaths is a good way of waking yourself up concersely.

I also cut out caffeine, apart from the occasional cola, and agree it halps a great deal.

Going to bed and to sleep at the same time approximately every night should also help.

You could also try some of the temple exercises, which are warmup exercises for Tai Chi Chuan I think. They are simple and quick to learn and perform, and might help you to relax.

dragonkin

Melatonin is supposed to be good too. Its the hormone your body produces when it wants to go to sleep. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin
I've not tried it myself but it's supposed to work well.

ali.c

crotalus667 wrote:

I hear that

Next time im in the doc's im going to see if I can get some tab's to help , I find some times I get up after a bad night and I know my body just has not recovered :mad: , it's amazing the difference a few extra hours make :eek:

My experience of sleeping tabs is that whilst technically you sleep its not the same quality as natural sleep and would recommend presuing other options first.

along with cutting caffenine in the evening as DavyJose suggested (this works a treat) I also try to get of the computer and turn of the telly etc at least an hour before bed.

A few years ago i had really bad sleep problems, the biggest thing for me was getting a routine going. Only going to bed when tired, getting up at the same time everyday (no matter what), having something small to eat and a shower before bed etc.

HammerHeadGym

I would recommend both Melatonin and ZMA. I also like a handful of tramadol from time to time. Not legal in Ireland though.

Did they make Melatonin illegal yet?

crotalus667

HammerHeadGym wrote:

I would recommend both Melatonin and ZMA.
Did they make Melatonin illegal yet?

You can get it on prescription, Ill try the ZMA first if that doesn’t work Ill see if I can get the Melatonin from my doc

nesf

g'em wrote:

@ crotalus, I'd echo what Odysseus said about the sleeping tablets, try and stick to alternative methods if possible

I'll add a caveat to this. If valarian root etc isn't working for you, you should talk to a doctor. It may be a symptom of something more serious, and if you are not sleeping well your health both physical and mental will most certainly suffer.

By all means try alternate strategies first, for most people they'll be fine, but chronic sleep problems are certainly something you need to see a doctor about.



I'm in an unhappy position of needing some form of sedation to have a regular sleep pattern, it's not nice having to take drugs to sleep but I'd honestly drink a pint of vinegar every night if I needed it in order to sleep well. Sleep problems impact pretty much every aspect of your life if they go on long enough.

dragonkin

HammerHeadGym wrote:

I would recommend both Melatonin and ZMA. I also like a handful of tramadol from time to time. Not legal in Ireland though.

Did they make Melatonin illegal yet?

Melatonin is "unclassified" and therefore not available on perscription or in shops you can order it online though.

crotalus667

dragonkin wrote:

Melatonin is "unclassified" and therefore not available on perscription or in shops you can order it online though.

I was told by a pharmacist that I needed a perception for it

are you telling me that if I ordered it online It would not get stopped by customs

JacobM

How about L-Tryptophan? That would work except it would make you undepressed. :eek: Oh well. They say it works for turkeys.

dragonkin

crotalus667 wrote:

I was told by a pharmacist that I needed a perception for it

are you telling me that if I ordered it online It would not get stopped by customs

I don't think so its not illegal. It's just unclassified and not available for general release.

Supercell

Thanks guys, some really great advice here.

I've been googling about some of the suggestions here and think I'm going to try out GABA - its supposed to help fat loss, be good for the skin..and I was reading on another forum where some people were complaining that it made them feel sleepy ..bingo!, but did make the dreams a bit more vivid.

dragonkin

Hey did you have an luck with this? Just curious...

Supercell

I got a tub of GABA powder online and am taking a teaspoon every night, in a small glass of water, about half an hour going to bed and it does help noticably, not a huge amount but enough that I am sleeping better.

nesf

Longfield wrote: »

I got a tub of GABA powder online and am taking a teaspoon every night, in a small glass of water, about half an hour going to bed and it does help noticably, not a huge amount but enough that I am sleeping better.

That's better than something that literally knocks you out.

g'em

Longfield wrote: »

I got a tub of GABA powder online and am taking a teaspoon every night, in a small glass of water, about half an hour going to bed and it does help noticably, not a huge amount but enough that I am sleeping better.

Delighted to hear it t-ha and Dragan have both said the same after using GABA.

rubadub

Even the placebo effect can be a lot. I take hayfever tablets diphenhydramine, AKA benadryl. These are also sold as sleeping tablets. I would take them 2 hours before sleeping and they kick in just in time- 2 hours later. If I take them too late at night I wake up drowzy, or during the day for hayfever I wake up drowzy. The hayfever relief lasts all the next day for me.

But if it is winter (no hayfever) and I cannot sleep- the moment I take one I am more relaxed- just knowing it is going to kick in -albeit in 2 hours. Trying to "force" yourself asleep is terrible, the later you stay up the more anxious you get. After taking it I KNOW I will be out cold in 2 hours max, usually go asleep 20mins later though- not anxious about it.

g'em

rubadub wrote: »

After taking it I KNOW I will be out cold in 2 hours max, usually go asleep 20mins later though- not anxious about it.

Do you ever find that your body gets accostomed to them though? I used to use Piriton when I was in Central America to relieve the mozzie bites/ to help me nod off in the hot nights but after a few weeks they'd stop doing their job

rubadub

g'em wrote: »

Do you ever find that your body gets accostomed to them though? I used to use Piriton when I was in Central America to relieve the mozzie bites/ to help me nod off in the hot nights but after a few weeks they'd stop doing their job

Yes a little bit- but in a slightly different way- they never lose their effect on me- the problem is not being able to do without them- getting too used to them and developing a sort of habitual dependency. I take them all summer as I need them for hayfever, around now is the time to wean myself off them. So in that way I am too accustomed to them.

I also use them at the weekends to break my bodyclock cycle, I wake up like a robot alarmclock at 7.30 without fail everyday, that is all fine expect if I am out on friday night drinking until 2-4am I still get up at 7.30 on saturday!. I walk up knackered and cannot get back asleep. So if I take them at 4am, they kick in at 6am and I sleep on until 12-2 with earplugs in with no problems.

I have tried Kava-kava tablets too which work OK.

nesf

rubadub wrote: »

Yes a little bit- but in a slightly different way- they never lose their effect on me- the problem is not being able to do without them- getting too used to them and developing a sort of habitual dependency. I take them all summer as I need them for hayfever, around now is the time to wean myself off them. So in that way I am too accustomed to them.

I had a similar issue with Zispin, which apart from its other effects, is a strong antihistamine.

crotalus667

I started taking zma and I sleep like a log

tribulus

Another thumbs up for GABA.

I'm not sure how it actually works given the theory on it but meh.

Black Swan

This may summarize some of what you have done and others have suggested in this thread (plus a few of my own)?
1. Daily strenuous exercise
2. Establish a habit of retiring at the same time every night
3. Reduce or eliminate caffeine (tea, coffee, sodas, etc.)
4. Avoid recreational (stimulant) drugs
5. Read a novel at bedtime to make your eyes sleepy
6. Reduce or eliminte smoking (also a stimulant)
7. Avoid diet pills (they often use stimulants)
8. Try to resolve sources of stress in your life (work, family, self)
9. Adopt a healthy diet (perhaps consult a dietitian?).
10. Avoid overeating or eating/snacking close to bedtime
11. Cut back on the booze (promotes the wrong kind of sleep and can lead to problems)
12. Increase occurrence of bedroom gymnastics during the week

Khannie

If noise is a real issue for you, I'd 2nd the suggestion of giving earplugs a go.

Degsy

I grow valerian,its nice when its flowering but takes over very rapidly and the root spreads all over the place.

slemons

christ i could sleep standing up, anytime, any place. I think i have the opposite of insomnia. outsomnia or whatever. ZMA helps me sleep deeper

jimbling

slemons wrote: »

christ i could sleep standing up, anytime, any place. I think i have the opposite of insomnia. outsomnia or whatever. ZMA helps me sleep deeper

way to cheer up a bunch of insomniacs!!!!!!

slemons

oh right - i just meant take some zma and see if it helps...
alternatively beer and a ride works great

TKD SC

Dont forget the ol' fresh air - can do wonders!

Also decaff tea (tastes same as normal tea) is option if you're a tea drinker and like a cup in the evenings.